I've been a technology writer for the last seven years for brands like CNET, The Inquirer and Pocket-lint, but I've loved technology my whole life. I've also been lucky enough to work for the BBC where I managed the Top Gear website and worked on countless other shows, including science and technology focused Tomorrow's World. In 2012, I presented a Sky TV show called Gadget Geeks and now I'm a freelance technology journalist.

A Google Chromebook Should Be Your Next Laptop And Here's Why

When the Chromebook first launched I got one to review. I utterly despised it. It’s actually quite hard to explain how much I took against it. My big problem with it was the cost, and the fact that it had to be online all the time. Happily, both of those things have changed since I used my first Chromebook. But even so, that early experience had comprehensively put me off Google'sGoogle's OS and the devices which ran it.

Recently though, I’ve found my opinion changing. I hadn’t thought much about the Chromebook, but I had one here that I’d been using on and off to test the platform. I pulled it out of the draw the other day, dusted it off, fired it up, and suddenly something just clicked. Within a few minutes of starting it up, the Chromebook was telling me to update, so I did. It took a few seconds. Another update after and then it was done. Within 15 minutes, the Chromebook was running the same version of Chrome OS as a brand new laptop. And that was all done free, without any long delays to download massive service packs.

As well as me rediscovering my Samsung Chromebook, something else has made me realise that the Chrome OS platform has a lot going for it. Google has announced that it will support all Chromebooks and Chromeboxes for five years. That is actually quite astonishing in computing terms, and you’ll be looking to replace the laptop long before that time period is up anyway, because of the fast pace of technological innovation.

But it wasn’t that which won me back over. What I realised was, that once updated, I was reaching for the Chromebook more than I was my MicrosoftMicrosoft Windows-powered laptop. The Chromebook sleeps so efficiently that from opening the lid, to being at the login prompt, takes just a few seconds. Even with Windows 8, PCs just aren’t that quick and even MacOS can’t quite compete. Like an AppleApple Mac, viruses are less of a problem than Windows, as Chrome OS has a Linux base.

So, what of my original problem with Chrome OS, needing to be online all the time? Well, what I realised was most of my time with any laptop is spent online anyway. Being offline is a pain for me because my work is mostly done in the cloud. Every document or spreadsheet I look at, I do so through Google Docs. I have a Google Play Music subscription too, so I can have access to streaming music, or even parts of my own collection that I’ve uploaded to my Google online storage. Even when I’m on my PC I am connected to the internet at all times, so for me the need to be online with a Chromebook was becoming less of an issue.

Of course, apps are a problem. Editing video or other complicated tasks aren’t an option. But when I thought about how much of that I was actually doing on the road, I realised there were very few occasions where I’d miss the power of a high-end Windows machine. There’s plenty I can do though, like log in to my webserver with a SSH client that runs perfectly on the Chromebook. I can play some games if I really want to, and I can stream music and video with the amazing Plex app from my home server too.

What’s more, even though the Chromebook is still a device that needs to be online, Google has improved its offline abilities to the point that I feel quite happy taking it out with me, even if I might wander in and out of mobile data coverage. This was something that gave me real anxiety when I first used a Chromebook. I won’t pretend it’s all plain sailing when you drop offline, but it doesn’t render the laptop useless when you do. I have to use a 3G Wi-Fi dongle with mine, and I’d advise you seek out a 3G one if you can. And mobile data has improved a lot too, with 3 and 4G becoming much more accessible.

One thing that impressed me about my Samsung is the connectivity. HDMI is missing, but the DisplayPort connector is easily adapted for watching video on your TV, should you want to. I love the fact that mine has an Ethernet jack, none of my modern Windows machines do, and at times Wi-Fi can really be a problem for any device. I also get an SD card slot, something that isn’t on either of my $1000+ laptops.

Of course, not all Chromebooks make sense, I struggle with the purpose of Google’s $1600 Pixel, for example. For me, the charm of the Chromebook is that it doesn’t need a lot of powerful hardware to run smoothly, I like the fact that a light, cheapish machine can replace your more expensive laptop.

So, those are the reasons I love Chromebooks now. It took me a while to get here, but if your next laptop isn’t running Chrome OS, I fear you might have made a mistake.

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The only problem with the current Chromebooks is their screens. Viewing angles are terrible and colour quality is poor. Only the HP 11″ has a decent screen, and it’s lacking in other areas. Add $50 to the cost of any of the current models for a decent display and it’s a real winner.

It’s just that connecting it to your monitor is so much beside the point of these little devices. They’re so small, lightweight, inexpensive with long battery life they’re ideal for travel, yet try sharing the screen to watch a film with someone on a flight, or even on your own you’ll be constantly adjusting the angle. Frustrating something can be so close to perfect, for what it is.

The key here is if you are always “online” then yes it makes sense to get a chromebook, however reality is far less rosy than most of these authors and writes would have you believe! First off let’s be real! Wi fi is NOT everywhere and even if it’s available chances are, it might not be reliable enough! The point is that no matter how much manufacturers/writers/Google?yahoo etc etc want to shove the concept of a “mature” and usable 100% cloud system, it’s still not here. So if you are the type of person that is connected 24/7 with through wifi/wired/tethered etc etc, a Chromebook is a decent choice otherwise stick to a portable.

And Chrome books become 1000 times more valueable when you have to upload content to Google Drive. I just uploaded my wifes music to Drive. It took me 6 days to upload 6Gbytes. How long dit uploading your stuff to the cloud take?

Thin clients like Chrome Books have tremendous leverage over thick clients and that advantage increases rapidly with internet upload speeds.

Google Fiber puts your stuff out there (on the cloud) 1000 times faster than a 5/1Mbit/sec down/upload interface. Once on a Drive it flies around on Google fiber until it reaches the last mile. Once your ISP accepts Google’s help with connecting the last mile your thin-client will act like it has 100,000x more computing power behind it.

Interesting article, though nothing in it has convinced me that the chomebook is anything more than a tablet with a hinged lid, and good for really not much more than surfing the web and playing games. I know google docs is trying to be the Office killer, but they are not there yet and so in the words of my idols in the Shark Tank, for that reason I’m out. Enjoy your toy, but I actually do work on my laptop and the Chromebook can’t accomplish what I need to do.

Andrew’s point was presumably that your argument that you can’t use a Chromebook because you feel Google Docs isn’t as ‘good’ as Microsoft Office doesn’t make much sense… given that you could just use Microsoft Office… on a Chromebook.

While I appreciate your change of heart regarding Chromebooks, there are a couple of inaccuracies in this article.

I am an amateur video editor—I used to use Pinnacle Studio but now happily put together short home videos with special effects using WeVideo–which is quilte capable for an online service (it has an offline version also with less functionality). No, it’s not for professional editors, but like the many photo editing options online (Pixlr PicMonkey etc.) it will more than meet the needs of most amateurs.

Also–this may be nit-picking, but when you say “Like an Apple AAPL +0.05% Mac, viruses are less of a problem than Windows, as Chrome OS has a Linux base.” Less of a problem is an understatement–since no virus has yet to be associated with Chrome OS—while it has the Linux kernel, Chrome OS is built from the ground up to make viruses impossible—so until one is actually discovered on it, don’t compare it to Mac or other Linux distros.

Thanks for the point on video editing. I was speaking from my perspective here, and I have in the past needed to do some quite complex edits on the fly, so would need something a bit more powerful. But, the fact there is an option is great.

Point taken on viruses, it’s semantics to some extent but Chrome OS remains a great choice for those worried about getting infected.

It is true that Chromebooks aren’t as good for computationally intensive tasks (e.g. video editing) currently. However, the Chrome ‘browser’ (i.e. ‘cut down Chrome OS that Google gets people to install on their Microsoft and Apple machines by calling it a browser’) remote desktop feature is extremely user friendly and can essentially give you access to a full powered desktop machine for any tasks too intensive for web applications.

Google is also going all out to increase the processing power of Chrome apps. With their latest improvements it seems possible that someone COULD build a video editing tool which runs online with nearly the same power as a desktop application. The only problem is that the technologies allowing that would only run in the Chrome ‘browser’ and developers are naturally reluctant to go down that path… which is part of the reason why Google made the Pixel… a Chromebook which could handle running that kind of Chrome app locally.

I see your point of view here Ian, I am using the Sony Vaio Duo 13, so things like start up time etc are never more than 2s. I’ve also noticed that with Chrome in Windows 8 you can click “Relaunch Chrome in Windows 8 Mode” and it launches an app which is virtually identical to a Chromebook UI. In terms of the ethernet port, there is an awesome adapter with the battery! I still would never fully rely on a chromebook as I just don’t see it being as functional as a Windows device. Have you found it to be a complete replacement, or much like the iPad in which people have an iPad and a laptop?